The Venice Carnival is February 10-20. During this time carnival entertainment fills every square, road and alley and there are numerous masked parties and balls. The Carnival of Venice is the most important and magnificent of Venetian celebrations, a much appreciated cocktail of tradition, spectacle, history and transgression set in a unique city, a festival that attracts thousands of people each year to the city from around the world.

Venice Festival is an event that takes place every year and is a 10 day countdown to lent. The streets have many people attired in these extravagant costumes. Venice is famous for its’ Carnival which is an annual event taking place to celebrate the advent of the religious Festival of Lent. Carnival is a time of festival and it attracts the largest crowds to Venice. Thousands crowd into the historic Piazza di San Marco to witness the costumes and performances illuminating the square. Pairs or groups of Venetians parade about the piazza and through the crowds in fantastic and magnificent costumes. It starts with the Vollo della Colombina (flight of the dove) when either an acrobat or a cardboard dove is launched from the Campanile in the Piazza San Marco, showering onlookers with confetti. The Grand finale is the explosive Mardi Gras.

A rich programme of events for this year’s Carnival – here divided day by day – starting with traditional happenings such as “The Flight of the Angel” and the “Feast of the Marie”, and with new ones, such as Maurizio Scaparro’s Carnival of Theatre, with performances dedicated to the Chinese culture and art (”The Dragon and the Lion”).
Just a few yards from the main square of St Marks in the narrow side streets and passageways you can find hundreds of shops selling Venetian Carnival Masks. Almost everywhere you turn quaint shops sell hand-painted masks or relics of Carnivals past and present. One cannot help but wonder how so many specialised shops are able to support themselves off season.